Spice Up Your Life

I love pinterest and have tried many recipes, crafts, decorations, etc from that amazing website. Out of boredom one night I decided to do an overhaul of my spices and work on creating some of my own spice blends. I have the same spice rack full of the original supply of spices from our wedding registry. I realized there were some spices I've never even opened and although I didn't know the exact shelf life of spices and herbs, I figured 4 years was too much. I used the chart located at the bottom of the blog as proof that it was time to say farewell to most of my herb spices.

I went on a trek to Sprouts and discovered my new favorite part of the the store: bulk herbs. From there I filled up about 9 bags of herbs (all only 99 cents an ounce). For the lighter herbs that is beyond a great deal! When I came home I refilled many of my herb/spice jars and created several homemade spice blends from pinterest.

Poultry Seasoning

http://pinterest.com/pin/257127459948004734

Italian Seasoning

http://pinterest.com/pin/257127459948004704

Faijta Seasoning

http://pinterest.com/pin/257127459948004691

Steak Seasoning

http://pinterest.com/pin/286330488779923656

You may be wondering why I would even spend the time to make my own seasonings when I can buy all of these pre-mixed and ready for me at the grocery store. A couple reasons come to mind:
1. guaranteed no MSG
2. less sodium goes into my spice mixtures than store made ones
3. fun!

I encourage you to try to it

Herbs and Spices Shelf Life

			Freezer

	Pantry	Refrigerator	Freezer
Spices, whole	1-3 years	- -	2-3 years
Spices, ground	6-12 months	- -	1-2 years
Herb/Spice Blends, opened	1 year	- -	- -
Herb/Spice Blends, unopened	2 years	- -	- -
Herbs	6-12 months	- -	1-2 years
Chili Powder	6 months	- -	- -
Herbs, flakes or crushed	6-12 months	- -	- -
Fresh Herbs	- -	Up to 1 week	- -
Garlic	1 month	1-2 weeks	1 month

Handling Tips: 

Store in airtight containers in dry places away from sunlight and heat.

Whole cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon sticks maintain quality beyond 2 year period.

Dried spices and herbs don't spoil; they just gradually lose their aroma and taste. If properly stored, they may be fine well past the "use by" date. Color aroma, and taste are all indicators of quality. Check potency by pouring a small amount in the palm of your hand (if seeds, crush first) and then sniff. If the scent is gone, discard the spice.

According to the experts at the Spice House, freezing won't hurt dried spices and herbs, but it probably won't extend their shelf life either.

Whole spices last longer than ground ones. For best quality, buy whole spices and grind them yourself just before use.

Refrigerate and DO NOT freeze fresh herbs. Basil is the most fragile. If it turns gray, discard it.

Source(s): 

Boyer, Renee, and Julie McKinney. "Food Storage Guidelines for Consumers." Virginia Cooperative Extension (2009): n. pag. Web. 7 Dec 2009.

Worry Wart

Are you like me? Do you worry too much? I am fully aware that the Bible calls worrying a sin, that worrying implies my lack of trust in God and that I am commanded in all things with prayer to bring my burdens to God.

Yes, I still worry...like all the time. The kind of worry that makes your stomach hurt and makes it difficult to feel happy about anything. The kind of worry that almost invokes paranoia that more things are wrong than the small issue that I'm worrying about.

Unfortunately, despite my efforts to be proactive or make amends this past week, things just went terribly wrong like they can do once in a while. Because of these vents, I've found myself worrying so much this week and along with it has come the stomach knots that rival the already present nausea.

So my question and reason for posting...what do you do? For those of you who are prone to worrying like me, what do you do to make it stop or manage it?

The Toddler Workout

Not too long ago a friend of mine told me about the idea of working out simply by following your toddler around for an hour. At first, I mentally scoffed and then was skeptical but I've started watching Kenzie and holy cow! How does she move as much as she does? If I followed her around and copied her movements for an hour, here is what my workout might look like:

60 squats- in order to examine items, pick up toys, get on the floor, and get off the floor, Kenzie squats. She squats both quickly and sometimes for long periods of time at least once every minute, that's 60 squats in a one hour workout.

120 Sit down/stand ups- Kenzie does not stay in one place ever! She sits, she stands, she sits, she stands, she sits, she stands. Not kidding...about 120 reps in an hour.

30 arm curls/arm raises- everything she picks up ends up on her shoulder, over her head, or thrown on the floor. Try it. Pick up an object off the floor, raise it over your head, and throw it back down, 30 times- hey maybe even while squatting.

30 push ups- remember that a baby push up goes from full standing, to flinging yourself to the floor, rolling over, and then pushing back to full standing.

30 mins straight of running laps- either turn yourself in circles, chasw an object such as an animal or run everywhere you go for 30 mins because after all, toddlers do not walk anywhere ever!

20 climb up/climbs downs- toddlers climb up on everything including couches, laps, chairs etc and then immediately want to get down. Try climbing up on the equivalent, which would roughly be the height of a wall that comes up to your stomach. Go ahead, climb up and immediately get down...20 times.

15 mins of dragging items 1/3 to 1/2 your body weight- toddlers want to move things around. Kenzie rearranges her furniture constantly. She grabs objects much too big for her and drags them around. Take a dining room chair and just drag it around for about 15 mins straight.

Finally- do not stop moving, ever, at all, for 60 mins straight. Break these activities up or do them straight through in succession. Don't believe me, watch your toddler and take stock of their activities for an hour.

I'd love to know what your toddler workout would look like.

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

Just for fun...

Music artists (in no particular order):

• Philips, Craig, and Dean- especially Revelation Song, When the Stars Burn Out, Great I Am
• Jars of Clay- especially Worlds Apart, Needful Hands, Valley Song
• David Crowder Band- especially SMS, Deliver Me, After All
• Chris Tomlin- especially Indescribable
• Nichole Nordeman- especially I Am
• Newboys- especially Blessed by Your Name, The Orphan, Entertaining Angels

bananas, mangoes, Blood oranges

PINK (the color, not the singer)

Oink cafe (weekend tradition)

amusement parks (especially with fast rides)

coffee (smell, taste, everything)

red licorice (not Twizzlers)

shrimp tails

rubbing the fabric of Mike's sweaters across my lips (it's soothing)

PJ pants

Christmas- everything about it!

Where's the Missing Piece?

I've been doing a parallel study of the Gospels, a task I've desired to complete for some time. I have learned so many new things from stories that I thought I knew so well. I'm eager to know more and hear perspectives from others that I may not have considered or known.

1. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John may not all have been disciples of Jesus. In fact, there is a possibility that they all  may not have known each other directly. Different theologians and historians have found evidence that speaks for both ideas. I've had pastors from multiple churches teach different perspectives as well.

2. All four books that are Gospel are written for different purposes and with a different audience in mind. Matthew wrote to the Jews, specifically addressing prophecies of the Old Testament. Mark wrote to the gentiles and focused on the power of Jesus as God, Luke wrote to the Greeks and emphasized Jesus and his life's ministry. John is the odd ball out- the book is written from an entirely unique perspective and with a different voice.

My questions as I'm studying:

1. Why did each person choose to include what he did in his book? Why does Luke have so many details about the birth of Christ and John is the only gospel to reference Jesus' first miracle?

2. If the authors of the Gospels did  not know each other or possibly Jesus directly, how are there certain quotes that are almost verbatim in multiple Gospels? Is there a source that they may have used to cross reference? 

I do not claim to be an expert in any of these things and I recognize that taking just one study guide as fact is ignorant. I'm excited to learn more!

The Year of the...

Although I do not believe in it, we are apparently in the Year of the Snake. It made me think what 2013 will be the year of for my family.

2009 was the year I got engaged and married
2010 was the year I started my master's
2011 was the year I got pregnant and had my first baby
2012 was the year that we just...survived
2013 will be the year of change.

Every year comes with change of course but as Mike and I preview 2013, we anticipate and are planning for several things to possibly change including our housing situation, career paths, education, and family size (possibly). That's a lot that could happen in a short amount of time. What's interesting is that we have clearly seen God opening doors for these events to occur. It's time to buckle up because it's the year of change.

Exploring the World of Couponing

I finally did it but let me state the disclaimer that I do not intend to end up on Extreme Couponers or create a room full of free stuff that I'll never use. I only plan to use coupons for items that I need and I don't plan to stock pile them. My ally is couponsense.com and my enabler is my friend Kristy.

On my first attempt at couponing I was able to score two packages of toilet paper for free and two cups of Yoplait greek yogurt for free. I use toilet paper and I eat Greek yogurt so I call that a success.

Unfortunately, I'm starting to realize that couponing is addicting. Couponsense doesn't just tell you which coupons from the newspaper to use, it also tells you about coupons from the internet and it pairs them with the best deals at different stores. I find myself scouring couponsense for the best deals.

In just a couple days I've already made a remarkable discovery: don't buy your Sunday papers on Sunday; wait until Monday and buy them from the dollar store for $1 instead!

Can't wait to see what I save this week!